1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a discharge apparatus for applying fluid material to a workpiece (substrate) and a method of applying material. More particularly, the present invention relates to a discharge apparatus and a material application method suitable for production of color filter substrates and the like.
2. Background Information
There have been known inkjet apparatuses that are used in producing color filters, electroluminescent display apparatuses, and the like. For example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2002-221616 discloses such inkjet apparatus.
Material having fluidity or material in the form of a liquid contains a solvent for imparting fluidity to material that is to be applied. For this reason, there are situations in which the volume of the liquid material required to deposit the target material (solute in the solution or the substance dispersed in the solvent) to the target discharge area up to a desired thickness exceeds the capacity that the target discharge area can receive. In such a case, the inkjet apparatus reduces the volume of the droplets of the liquid material discharged to the target discharge area during a single main scan and increases the number of main scans to be performed so that the liquid material does not flow out of the target discharge area. This is due to the fact that, by reducing the volume of the droplet of the liquid material during a single main scan, an increase in the volume of the liquid material per unit of time due to the discharge of the liquid material becomes less than a decrease in the volume of the liquid material per unit of time due to vaporization of the solvent.
In the above-described method, however, the application step requires a longer period of time to carry out the deposit operation, since a plurality of main scans need to be performed on a single target discharge area.
In view of the above, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art from this disclosure that there exists a need for an improved discharge apparatuses, material application methods, manufacturing methods for color filter substrate, manufacturing methods for electroluminescence display apparatus, manufacturing methods for plasma display apparatus, and wiring manufacturing methods that overcome the above described problems of the conventional art. This invention addresses this need in the art as well as other needs, which will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this disclosure.